Happy Elf Day
by Lady Lanera
Summary: Severus and his family spend Mother's Day with Eileen.


**Disclaimer:** _Harry Potter_ and all of the awesome characters are owned by J.K. and the others. I just play with them every now and then.

 **A/N:** This short little fic came after a prompt from DaughterOfAres, who wanted a Mother's Day fic with Severus and Eileen. Not sure which universe this is set in, so I'll just say it's a standalone for now. :) You may need the tissues for the ending. Thank you for reading. Enjoy.

 **Happy Elf Day**

Glancing at the calendar, Severus sighed inwardly. It was that time of year again. He grimaced as he thought back on their past celebrations of Mother's Day. Some of them weren't bad at all, but others were downright painful to recall even then. Like when he was six and had to recite the poem he had written for his mother in front of his whole class. She had smiled through it all like any good mother, but he could tell that inside she was dying.

Then there was the time he had sent his mother, accidentally mind you, an exotic entertainer. In his defense, he was _only_ nine at the time and innocently thought exotic entertainer meant someone who used exotic animals to entertain for parties. His mother did, after all, love zebras. However, the moment Eileen Snape answered the door and saw the half-naked and obviously athletic hunk of a man on the other side, it was clear to him that she did not at all like exotic entertainers.

But there were good ones, where he got it right. His first Mother's Day after accepting the post of Potions Master at Hogwarts was one of those. He had cooked her favorite meal and shared a bottle of the best elf-wine known to man with her. It had set him back somewhat financially, but it was worth it.

Another good Mother's Day was the one where he had come home from the Final Battle, alive. She had held him for a good ten minutes then, crying happily against him as they sat on the grimy kitchen floor of the row house on Spinner's End. He was rather certain nothing could top that Mother's Day for her. After all, the best gift a mother could ever have was knowing that her son was alive and well after surviving such a terrible ordeal.

He knew the day to her wasn't about useless trinkets or flowers, so he knew well enough not to get her any of those. She wanted something from the heart, something that had meaning. He glanced into the bottom of his cauldron at the bubbling potion and sighed. Felix Felicis certainly wouldn't do. So, he waved his wand at the cauldron to place a stasis charm onto the potion before he moved on.

Eileen already knew about her daughter-in-law, so that was out as well. And she knew about her grandchildren too. In fact, he was still getting lectured by his mother all about premarital sex seven years after learning that he was to be a father the first time. It was only after he'd remind her of the quaint little fact that _she_ had been the one who had been so insistent upon being a grandmother that Eileen would quiet down and wear a faint self-satisfied smile.

At the sound of little feet running across the stone floor just outside his lab, Severus sighed silently and glanced at the half-opened door. He caught the first little head peek inside before he heard a yelp of surprise followed by the head vanishing behind the door again.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" he called out, crossing his arms as he watched the shadows move nervously underneath the door. "Was there just a prince at my door?" The moment he heard the gasp from one child and heard another giggle, he rolled his eyes. "Hmm. Yes. It must've been the light tricking me again." He then heard his children's poor excuse for whispering as they discussed something intently on the other side of the door.

"Nuh-uh, you go!" his daughter argued.

"But I went last time," whined his son.

"So?" his daughter said haughtily. "He caught you, not me."

"So I don't wanna go!"

"I don't care." His daughter then adopted her usual 'take no prisoner's voice.' "I'm your big sis, and I say you're gonna go in there."

"Then I'm gonna tell Mummy you're being mean to me!" his son exclaimed before his shadow moved away from the door.

Suppressing his urge to sigh loudly again, Severus flicked his wand at the door, causing it to open wide. When he saw his children gasp and wear identical shocked face, he rolled his eyes at them. _Oh, to be young again and so naïve,_ he thought.

"Daddy!" both cried.

"Indeed." He then caught the flash of emotions fly across their faces.

"Daddy, Angel was being mean to me!" his son yelled.

His daughter meanwhile screamed simultaneously, "Daddy, Luke won't do as I say!"

Severus covered his face instantly to hide his amusement. Of course his daughter would say that. She only came, after all, from a long line of strong, opinionated witches.

"Angel, be nice to your brother," Severus sternly replied before he looked to his son. "And, Luke—"

"Don't be a brat," his daughter replied, adopting her father's mannerisms.

"I'm not a brat!" Luke then grabbed a bit of his sister's hair and yanked it hard, resulting in the little girl screaming bloody murder. "You are!"

Severus winced instantly, craning his head to the side to escape her piercing shriek. She was part banshee, he was sure of it.

"That's enough!" he shouted atop of his daughter's screams somehow. When both young children instantly went quiet, he shook his head. "If you continue this behavior, I'll have no choice but to send you elsewhere for the day."

"But—"

"But nothing," Severus interrupted, giving them both stern looks. "Grandmum Eileen will just have to suffer somehow without her two favorite little brats this year." His daughter's lips puckered instantly as her brows knitted together angrily. His son, however, only pouted with sad puppy dog eyes. "That is unless you two start to behave and be nice to one another." He watched them glance suspiciously at one another before his daughter shrugged a moment later as his son looked down at his bare feet. "Thank you."

"So, what are you brewing, Daddy?" his daughter asked curiously as she boldly walked into the room, blatantly ignoring one of her father's long-standing rules.

Severus decided that he'd let it slide this one time, seeing as how he had put the stasis charm on the potion beforehand.

"Felix Felicis," he answered, picking both of his kids up soon after so they could get a better look at the potion inside the cauldron.

"Is a cat sick, Daddy?" his son asked several minutes later.

Severus blinked the moment he heard Luke's question. Where on earth had that come from? He glanced at his son before he shook his head, letting it go.

"No. Not that I'm aware of," Severus answered quietly.

"It's for luck, dummy, not a kitty," his daughter huffed, rolling her eyes.

"Angel," Severus warned, giving his daughter a disapproving look.

"What? I said 'dummy,' not 'dodo head,' Daddy," she argued.

"Regardless of which term you used, you still—"

"But you say it all the time, Daddy!"

Severus inhaled slowly and pressed his lips tightly together. It was official. His daughter spent way too much time around Slytherins.

"Do as I say, my Angel, not as I do," he replied, forcing a smile to his face.

"Well, that's stupid," she huffed, sticking her bottom lip out as she crossed her arms. Her warm brown eyes then met her father's. "I wanna be just like you, Daddy, when I grows up."

"No you don't," he said with a shake of his head before he kissed her forehead. He then started to walk with them still in his arms towards the door to leave his lab. He felt both of his kids wrap their little arms tighter around his neck as they held on.

As he walked out into the sitting room, he noticed the time. His wife would just be getting out of her class right now. He then slowly lowered himself down onto the sofa with his kids still hanging onto him for dear life.

"Did you make something for Grandmum and Mummy?" Severus asked quietly as he watched the minutes tick down on the clock.

"I made Mummy and Grandmum a card," Angel proudly stated.

Severus then glanced towards his son, who remained silent.

"And what did you make, Luke?" He brushed back his son's long black hair.

"tis stupid," his son answered barely above a whisper.

"I very much doubt that," Severus stated, pushing his son's head up gently. "Tell me." He caught his son's hesitant look towards his sister before Luke leaned into his father and whispered it in his father's ear so Angel wouldn't hear it. The moment he heard his son's answer, he felt his chest clench and closed his eyes.

"Do you think they'll like it, Daddy?" Luke whispered, pulling back.

"I think your grandmum will very much." Severus couldn't keep the shakiness from his voice. His son had his mother's heart clearly. He pulled Luke closer and kissed his forehead tenderly.

When the Floo flared with life a few moments later, Severus glanced at it, giving his wife a faint smile as she stepped out of the fireplace.

"Well, if it isn't my welcoming committee," she teased, removing her teaching robes and setting them on the peg beside the fireplace. She walked back to them soon after, giving each of them a kiss before sitting down beside her husband, holding their daughter who had went to her.

"Mummy, I got you something for Mummy's Day," Angel announced loudly.

"Oh?" She glanced towards Severus as if to ask 'Dare I ask what?'

"Uh-huh. But you can't open it until Grandmum's here." The little girl then must have caught sight of the clock before she turned back towards her father. "Daddy, when did you say Grandmum's coming again?"

He glanced up at the clock. "Anytime now." He caught Angel's excitement increase instantly.

"Can I go get them then? They're just in my room. Please?" She bit her lip, her eyes darting back and forth between him and the fireplace nervously.

His eyes darted to his wife, who only shrugged, before he turned back. "Go ahead." He watched his daughter fly past, running towards her room. "You can go, too, Luke," he said quietly. He caught the pained look on his son's face before the young boy slowly meandered towards his room to grab his gifts.

"What's going on with Luke?" Severus's wife asked, giving him a puzzled look.

Severus leaned forward, lowering his voice so only she'd hear. "He's anxious about his Mother's Day gifts for you and my mother."

"Why?" Her eyes narrowed before she looked towards their children's rooms. "He knows he didn't have to get me anything, right? I mean, I tried to make that clear to both of them earlier."

"He knows."

When the two children appeared soon after and the Floo roared to life yet again, Severus felt his son's worrying increase. He motioned for his son to come over to him and picked him back up. After all, not even a hurricane would stop the proud grandmother from finding her grandchildren and smothering them in kisses.

"Happy Elf Day!" Eileen called out the moment after she stepped out of the fireplace. Multi-colored glitter suddenly appeared and rained down around them. Judging by the amused look on Eileen's face, Severus knew exactly where that glitter had come from too.

"Grandmum!" Angel exclaimed, giggling. "It's not elf day. It's Mummy's Day."

Eileen raised a brow, schooling her features instantly before she glanced at her daughter-in-law. "Personally, I think your mummy gets too many days as it is," Eileen drawled before she picked her granddaughter up and twirled her around in the air. "My, my, look who is getting big."

"It's cause I been eating all my veggibales like you said to," Angel proudly said.

"Oh? What a good girl you are," Eileen replied, giving her granddaughter a large kiss on the cheek before she set her back down.

"I got you something, Grandmum."

"You did? Oh my." Eileen then knelt down. "Then it's a good thing I got you two something too for Elf Day, isn't it?"

Once again, Angel fell into a fit of giggles at her grandmother's joke. Luke, on the other hand, sat beside his father, biting his lip nervously and keeping his eyes down on the stone floor.

Eileen reached into her deep robe pockets then before she pulled out two small wrapped gifts, handing the first to Angel and then walking over to Luke to hand him his. "Well, go on then. Open it." A moment later, wrapping paper went flying all over as the two kids opened their gifts. Meeting her son's questioning look, Eileen smirked before she winked at her son.

When Severus saw what the gifts were soon after, he rolled his eyes at his mother. Snow globes.

"They have an unbreakable charm on them, so they'll never break, dears," Eileen explained to the two kids who were in utter awe with their gifts. "Go ahead and shake them." Both children did. Each globe's inside rained down with the shimmering glitter that looked like snow.

"Look, Daddy! Mine's got reindeer!" Angel cried, showing her snow globe off proudly. She then whirled towards her younger brother peering at his snow globe. "Luke's is the castle!"

Severus noticed his son instantly pull his snow globe closer to himself, shielding it from his sister's view. He gave his daughter a look when she seemed outrage. She seemed to understand her father's look, because she said nothing to upset her brother further.

"Thank you, Grandmum," Angel said before she gave Eileen a hug. "I love it."

"You're welcome, dear." Eileen then glanced at Luke who only stepped forward and gave her a silent hug before he took several steps back, his eyes returning to the snow globe in his hands.

Angel then held out her card to Eileen. "It's not nearly as wicked as the snow globes, but I made it myself just like Daddy said to."

Eileen laughed, grabbing the card from her granddaughter. "Happy Mummy's Day, Grandmum Eileen," she read from the cover. She then turned the page before she continued reading aloud. "You're the bestest Grandmum ever, and not just cause you give us sweets and let us stay up whenever we want when we spend the night with you. Or cause of the puppies. It's cause you're ours. Love, Angel."

Severus resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. His daughter clearly missed his point.

"Thank you, love," Eileen said, kissing the top of Angel's head. The little girl then bounded off towards her mother, handing her a card as well.

"Here you go, Mummy."

She opened the card a moment later as there was only a hand-drawn picture on the front of puppies. Clearing her throat, Severus's wife read aloud. "Happy Mummy's Day, Mummy. Thank you for reading me and Luke bedtime stories but really thank you for being our mummy instead of others." She paused for a moment before she glanced at her daughter. "P.S. Can we sell Luke and get a puppy?"

Severus's eyes darted to his daughter instantly.

"What if I just gave you a puppy instead?" Eileen asked bluntly.

Severus's head whipped back to his mother, and he shook his head at her. They would most certainly not get a puppy now after that.

"Really?" Angel's eyes lit up as her mouth opened. "Wow. That'd be so wicked. Can we get a krup? I been learning all about them, and I think I'd like them best."

"Well, on second thought," Eileen drawled, tracing her lip with a finger, "I'll wait until you learn to appreciate things better. Like your baby brother for instance."

When the little girl's face fell, Severus shook his head. Angel wisely stayed quiet.

Waiting for his son to step forward and give his gift to his grandmother and mother, Severus quickly realized that his son wasn't ready yet to hand them out. So, Severus stepped forward instead, pulling out a small wrapped gift from his own pocket.

"Here you go, Mother," he said quietly, catching her surprise. He watched her unwrap it carefully, the confusion written all over her face. However, the moment she had torn enough of the paper off to see what was underneath, he saw the confusion morph into shock. "For your mantel," he explained when she turned towards him.

"Oh, my sweet boy," Eileen whispered, her fingers tenderly tracing over the figures in the silver-framed photo. "It's perfect. Thank you." She then held it out so Angel and Luke could see it.

"Is that Grandpa?" Luke bravely asked once he had seen the photo.

"Yes, love, it is." Eileen smiled through tears, her fingers resting for a moment atop of a blue-eyed, shaggy-haired man. "That's your Grandpa Tobias." She wiped the tears away a moment later. "And that's your mummy and your daddy and you, Angel," she explained, pointing to the young couple holding an infant in the photo.

"Where am I?" Luke asked, frowning as he searched the photo.

"Right there in your mummy's belly," Eileen said. Her voice faltered before she drew in a slow breath. "This was taken just a few days before you were born, Luke."

"Grandpa looks happy," the young boy declared.

"He was, Luke. Your grandpa couldn't wait to hold you in his arms after you were born."

Severus reached for his wife's hand instinctively. It had been six years, but not a day had gone by that he didn't miss his father. When he felt his wife squeeze his hand back, he closed his eyes, letting out a tiny exhale.

"Grandmum?" Luke said softly. "I'm ready to give you your gift now." He gently held out the tiny box and watched his grandmother's face as she opened it.

Eileen first seemed confused before she then looked towards her grandson.

"A stone?"

The little boy nodded slowly. "So you can talk to Grandpa."

It wasn't the Resurrection Stone, though, as that had been lost ages ago. In fact, upon further inspection, it was clear that the black stone was from one of Luke's mother's onyx earrings. But the thought behind it was so overwhelming. Here was a little boy who was trying to give his grandmother a way to communicate with her deceased husband.

Eileen pulled her grandson into a fierce hug, crying and kissing the top of his head.

"Thank you, sweetheart," she whispered against him. "I love it." The boy broke out into a brilliant smile, one that was oddly similar to his grandfather's.

"I love you, Grandmum."

"And I love you three as well." She then paused. "And possibly you as well, dear daughter-in-law," Eileen added. "But only if you give me more grandchildren as wonderful as these ones. So . . . get to it, Severus. Get . . . Mothering." She grinned widely.

"Mother!"

 **A/N:** Some of you may be wondering why I didn't name Severus's wife in this fic. I didn't do this because so many of us have our own ideas of whom he would have married if he had moved on after Lily's death. So, I left it up to you, my lovely readers. For me, his wife is undeniably Aurora. But that's just me. Once again, thank you for reading.


End file.
